My mom had heart surgery last week to repair two valves. She just might have set some hospital records in terms of how fast she has recovered with basically no complications. Less than 24 hr after sugery she was up and sitting in a chair (already tired of being confined to a bed) and soon after was walking the hospital halls. She's been discharged and is now adding stairs to her walking routine and decreasing her pain medication daily. Whereas most people ask their doctors when they'll be able to walk a mile, my mom was instead asking when she would water ski...the doctor told her she'd be ready once the ice melts! I admire her determination, initiative, and the discipline she had previously instilled in her excercise and diet which played a huge part in her quick recovery.
Mom and I in Punta Cana, January 2008
My Granny has been in a nursing home since about October slowly to sucumbing to old age and congestive heart failure. She's become such a constant in my 28 years that I sometimes forget the fact that she is 99 years old and that this time would come at some point. She's taken a turn for the worse over the past week, but continues to defy the odds and shock all the doctors with her ability to perservere and still visit with family and friends during this time. While it is hard to be away now, I am incredibly thankful that I was able to see her everyday I was home over Christmas and spend some time celbrating her life. To see all the pictures of people that have been there to visit with her, all the cards pouring in, and the flowers and chocolates scattered throughout the room, I can't say I was at all surprised however I was struck by the impact she has left on so many people in the community. Her perserverance in and spirit for life have helped shape me and I am so blessed for being able to spend so many years with her.
Granny keeping dry at Mom & Dad's 40th wedding anniversary, Aug 2007
The resort was lush and tropical with lots of peacocks and flamingos struting around, the people were incredibly friendly and hospitable, and the beaches were gorgeous! Though we did have one day of terrential winds and rain, we made the most of it with plenty of card games.
We spent most of our time hanging around the resort, walking and running on the beach, and relaxing by the pool, but we did have a fabulous snorkling expedition where we took "james bond style" 2 seater speed boats out to a reef to see some absolutely goregous fish.
Thanks for a great vacation Mom and Dad!!!
Andrea, Richard, Brad, and I braved the high winds and somewhat icey conditions for an afternoon skiing on Keystone Mountain. To my plesant surprise, my downhill skills hadn't gotten too rusty and I was almost able to keep up with the Denver natives. You really can't beat an afternoon on the slopes followed by an evening in the hot tub enjoying hot chocolate & baileys while watching the snow fall over the mountains!
As usual we played a lot of games (Mexican Train, Sequence, Celebrity) and ate a lot of food..but balanced that out with some mountain walks with Deac and a sledding adventure.
.... celebrating Emily's 29th birthday with chocolate fondue!!!
8. Ris à l'amande - boiled rice in whipped cream and vanilla, mixed with chopped almonds and served cold with a hot cherry sauce. The tradition is that these is one whole almond hidden in the dish and the lucky finder of this whole almond receive the annual 'almond gift' This is a very typical Danish Christmas dish and I was a big fan!!
They only practice twice a week (which makes it do-able to manage with work) and only have 2 tournaments where they actually have games. So it is more like an "afterschool club" in my mind then the competitive basketball that I grew up with...which makes deciding how tough to be on them a little interesting at times...but overall it is really fun.
I had them over for brunch a few weeks ago which was a great chance to get to know them a little better and see their personalities come out. I learned that most of them have already lived in 3-4 countries by now and one has already lived in 7 different countries! On my teams I have at least 9 differnet nationalities that I can think of off the top of my head right now...Danish, Swedish, Canadian, American, Croatian, British, Chinese, Gambian, German....I think I might be forgetting one or two.
I was lucky enough to have another friend (#5!) come visit me in Copenhagen. This time it was Stacey Chamberlin from DC! Stacey arrived on a Friday afternoon, and after taking a nap while I was finishing up some work, we headed into the city for goodbye drinks for Ali and Oyvind (friends of mine who have moved to London) and dinner at a quaint Italian place.
I decided that the combination of nighttime and jet lag might not go well with Stacey's first bike ride through CPH...so we held off until Saturday. After doing a couple errands, we were off to see some of the sites - the Lakes, Rosenborgslot (gardens pictured above), the Little Mermaid, and Nyhavn which was already all decked out for Christmas. Then it was off to dinner and drinks in Vesterbro with Jason, Asa, Mike, Jeff, Katie, Grant, and Nikki - thanks for organizing Jason!
The highlight of Sunday was Tivoli which has opened for Christmas! It is filled lights, Christmas decorations, glogg (spiced wine), and plenty of holiday cheer.
On our second day in Tallinn we had 2 big 'adventures' -
And from there...it was off to the Romantika - our overnight ferry between Tallinn and Stockholm. Think of every stereotype you can when I say "1970's Loveboat" and you might come somewhat close to the Romantika :) I think the 'highlight' - or at least the point of the trip where Stacey and I were laughing so hard our stomachs hurt - was when the Estonian Dance Factory performed on the main stage...lots of pink boas and silver sequins.
